Constructing Life Table for the Population in Albay Cemetery

Juan, Mary Rose S, Morano, Ma. Rizza Anne D, Perez, Honey Joyce R, Vergara, Almira R.

Bicol University, College of Science, Legazpi City

ABSTRACT

This activity studied a population of 100 deceased persons in the year 2014. Albay cemetery was the
chosen location for data acquisition. Based on the collected data, a life table was constructed

INTRODUCTION

A population is a group of same species
living in the same general area which rely on the
same resources, are influenced by similar
environmental factors, and are likely to interact
and breed with one another. Populations are
often described by their boundaries and size
(Reece et al. 2011) Several factors affect sizes.
These are births and immigration which add
indviduals to a population and and emigration
which remove individuals from a population.
When more individuals are being added to a
population than are being removed, the
population increases in size. Alternatively, when
more individuals are removed from the
population than are added to the population the
population decreases in size. Population sizes do
not change when the rate that individuals are lost
from a population is equal to the rate that
individuals are added to the population
(McGinley 2014).
vital statistics of populations and how they
change over time. Of particular interest to
demographers are birth rates and death rates. A
useful way to summarize some of the vital
statistics of a population is to make a life table
(Reece et al. 2011).
A life table is a record of survival and
reproductive rates in a population, broken out by
age, size, or developmental stage (e.g., egg,
hatchling, juvenile, adult). Wildlife population
ecologists have found life tables useful in
understanding patterns and causes of mortality,
predicting the future growth or declines of
populations (Balgopal and Ode 2011).
The objective of this study is to
construct a life table for the population in the
chosen site and describe the population
dynamics.

Populations have several characteristics METHODOLOGY

that ecologists use to describe them. How
individuals are arranged in space, or dispersion,
informs us about environmental associations and
social interactions among individuals in the
population. How many organisms there are per
unit area is referred to as density. Both of these
characteristics can be measured in a variety of
ways (Walker 2011).
The factors that influence population
density and dispersion patternsecological
needs of a species, structure of the environment,
and interactions among individuals within the
populationalso influence other characteristics
of populations. Demography is the study of the
The researchers chose Albay Cemetery
as the site for data acquisition. Using a cohort-
based approach, 2014 was the assigned year
used and a total of 100 deceased persons
completed the sample population. Their
birthdates were recorded so as to compute their
age at the time of their passing.
Based from the collected data, a life
table was constructed, showing the age class
which is 5 years, number in cohort, number
living at start, number dying during the specific
year, probability of dying during the same year,
probability of surviving intervals, years left to
live and lastly, the life expectancy.
 An age pyramid was also established curve for further analysis of the sample
based from the data as well as a survivorship population.

RESULTS

Table 1. Life Table for a population

Cohort Numbe Number Number Probability of Years left to

Probability of
Age (age r in living at dying surviving live
dying during x
Class interval) cohort start during x intervals
qx
X Lx lx dx ss ex
0-5 1 98.5 100 3 0.03 0.97 12.01
6-10 2 97 97 0 0 1 11.37
11-15 3 97 97 0 0 1 10.36
16- 4 96 97 2 0.02 0.98 9.37
20
21- 5 94 95 2 0.02 0.98 8.55
25
26- 6 91 93 4 0.04 0.96 7.73
30
31- 7 87.5 89 3 0.03 0.97 7.05
35
36- 8 85 86 2 0.02 0.98 6.28
40
41- 9 82 84 4 0.05 0.95 5.41
45
46- 10 77 80 6 0.08 0.92 4.67
50
51- 11 69 74 10 0.14 0.86 4.00
55
56- 12 61 64 6 0.09 0.91 3.55
60
61- 13 52.5 58 11 0.19 0.81 2.86
65
66- 14 43 47 8 0.17 0.83 2.41
70
71- 15 32.5 39 13 0.33 0.67 1.81
75
76- 16 20.5 26 11 0.42 0.58 1.46
80
81- 17 11.5 15 7 0.47 0.53 1.17
85
86- 18 5 8 6 0.75 0.25 0.75
90
91- 19 1 2 2 1 0 0.5
95
96- 20 0 0 ---
100
 Chart Title
%male %female

5
-8
81
5
Age Interval

-6
61
5
1 -4
4
5
1 -2
2
5
0-
8 6 4 2 0 2 4 6 8 10
% Population

Fig. 1 Age Pyramid for the sample population

12

10

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Fig 2. Type 1 curve. Time-specific survivorship curve for the sample population of Albay Cemetery,
showing the number alive in each age class plotted against age in years.

DISCUSSION

This activity studied the life expectancy
in relation to survivorship rate and mortality.
Figure 2 showed a Type 1 survivorship curve.
This survivorship curve signifies low mortality
among the young- that is, a high proportion of
individuals survive to the next age throughout
the early part of life. The curve steepens in the
older ages, indicating increased mortality in old
age.
Life tables describe the mortality and
survival patterns of a population. On the basis of
annual mortality ratios for each age or age
group, these tables provide information such as
the number of survivors, the number of deaths
and life expectancy (Muelen, 2012).
It is assumed that this age-specific
mortality data will also apply as the population
by age in the observed period reaches the ages
concerned in their later lives. This ass umption
has important implications for the interpretation
of the life expectancy in the period life table.
This concerns the number of remaining years of
life that the survivors of a certain age can expect
to live on average, provided that the age-specific
mortality ratios as observed in the year on which
the table is based do not change during the rest
of their lives. The practical values of these tables
are therefore determined by how true this
assumption is (Muelen, 2012).
According to the Philippine
Demographics Profile in 2014, in a population
of 107,668,231 (July 2014 est.), the Philippines
had a total fertility of 3.06 children born/woman
(2014 est.), which means that this statistics
supports the results of this activity. Therefore,
there is a high fertility rate in the said
population.

CONCLUSION Van de Muelen, A (2012). Life tables and

Life tables show relationship between Survival analysis. Statistics Netherlands.
survivorship rate and reproductive rate.
Predicting the growth and decline of a Walker, S. E. (2011) Density and Dispersion.
population is an important use of a life table. Nature Education Knowledge 3(10):3

REFERENCES

Balgopal, M., P. Ode (2011) Quantifying

Ecology: Constructing Life History Tables.
Retrieved from

https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-
201441528/quantifying-ecology-
constructing- life-history-tables

McGinley, M. (2014). Population ecology.

Retrieved from

http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/155311

n.a. Philippines Demographics Profile (2014).

Retrieved from

www.indexmundi.com/philippines/demographic
s_profile.html.

Reece, J.B., et al. Campbell Biology 9th ed.

Pearson Education, Inc., Pearson
Benjamin Cummings, 1301
Sansome St., San Francisco, CA 94111. 2011